Device Similar To Pipe Bomb Explodes Near Downtown Disney

Pipe Bomb Explodes Near Downtown Disney

www.newsday.com

Orange County deputies found a "low-level crude device" resembling a pipe bomb in a trash can at a Downtown Disney parking lot early today.

"Our investigators found end caps, which usually indicate a pipe-bomb-like device," said Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary at a news conference this morning. "We believe this was not designed to cause significant property damage or injuries."

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 7/2/2007 by digitalassassin]

I am quite surprised this has not made the headlines. I saw a brief clip about it on CNN but that was about a ten second spot.

I know this was a very crude device but after what happened over in the U.K. I think this needs to be taken seriously. Yeah, it could be a dumb-a** kid messing around in his fathers tool shed, but it could have easily been some guy trying to cause damage.

What if this was just a warning device? What if it is someone who plans on placing stronger pipe-bombs?

What are your opinions? Should this be getting more coverage? Could this have been motivated by the U.K. incidents? Lets us all know what you think.

www.newsday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 7/2/2007 by digitalassassin]

I saw a brief blurb on this early this morning and was looking for a link but couldn't find one.

Kudos to you for getting it up

Is it possible Disney is using its muscle to cover this up? Wouldn't be good for their theme park business, would it?

Originally posted by djohnsto77
I saw a brief blurb on this early this morning and was looking for a link but couldn't find one.

Kudos to you for getting it up

Is it possible Disney is using its muscle to cover this up? Wouldn't be good for their theme park business, would it?

I'd say it's a pretty good possibility. If there's fear of an amusement park getting bombed, people may still go, but I'm sure many will go elsewhere.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Is it possible Disney is using its muscle to cover this up? Wouldn't be good for their theme park business, would it?

That is one of the first thoughts that I had. They might be trying to cover it up because this is a big holiday week in the U.S. with the Fourth of July only 2 days away. That would cost the park a whole lot of money.

To add to the credibility of that theory the news article says there were conflicting reports. One official said the doors of the trash can were blown off and another official said they were not blown off.

It is just very strange. It really should be getting more coverage.

They shut down all of Boston when they found those Aqua Teen Hunger Force Advertisements and it was on the News all day. But a bomb at Disney get a 10 second blerb...Come On...

[edit on 7/2/2007 by digitalassassin]

I read this earlier this morning on local paper website and I'm also surprised how quiet coverage has been on this. It is claimed that the device was "crude" and it seems investigators aren't putting too much into this.

I also thought that Disney might have asked to keep this as quiet as possible as to not disrupt the tourist industry...right now with disney being very popular with families on summer vacation and there for 4th of July celebrations.

edited to add, most vacationing families probably aren't even aware of the incident... hopefully Orlando and Disney will increase their police presence and vigilance.

[edit on 7-2-2007 by worldwatcher]

I doubt that Disney has anything to do with keeping this quite.
I heard about on the way to work this morning. All the local radio stations were talking about it. WNDB AM1150 discussed that on their morning news show.

They indicated that it was first reported on the Fox News Network, but I did not see any report on Foxs' website at all this morning. Maybe it was on their TV show.

Disney has a no fly zone over it and they have pretty good security as you enter the gates. I have heard from some that it wasn't too hard to sneak in though at some less secure locations. (other than the main gate) With the huge work force Disney has though, I doubt that it would be too difficult to get some help from the inside if someone was planning something nefarious.

[edit on 2-7-2007 by Sparky63]

Well, if a pipe bomb did go off and didn't injure anyone at all it's still highly likely that all the Disney parks would be evacuated which would obviously cause a lot of inconvenience and problems for both tourists enjoying themselves and Disney itself. Which is probably the goal of this device, given how small it apparently is.

Terrorism isn't just about killing - causing chaos and inconvenience without death is another way of doing things, since it's still going to hurt in the long term (lost revenue for businesses, increased security meaning money time, money and effort has to be devoted to police and so on).

I also wouldn't rule out a warning, as other posters have suggested, but I think it's more likely to be a device to cause panic/hysteria than death. Can you imagine how many people visit one of the Disney parks each day? Can you imagine the logistics involved in evacuating those people out of the parks and out of Disney property? A lot of Americans who visit use their own cars, which would clog up the roads as they all tried to leave at the same time. In addition you've got tourists from outside the US who rely on taxies and public transportation, which would be overloaded. A nasty consequence for thousands of people.

EDIT: And yes, I forgot about the July 4th events which obviously entail an increase in tourism at Disney which means the parks would have even more visitors than usual.

[edit on 2/7/07 by Ste2652]

My thoughts are that this was a small devise set to check the response time of first responders, we'll probably see more of these types of test runs by would-be attackers if that is what we are dealing with, I doubt that this was just some mischevious kids playing tricks although anything is possible these days.

Originally posted by the_sentinal
My thoughts are that this was a small devise set to check the response time of first responders, we'll probably see more of these types of test runs by would-be attackers if that is what we are dealing with, I doubt that this was just some mischevious kids playing tricks although anything is possible these days.

Thats a scary thought that makes a lot of sense.
Its easy to make one of these but does require a little running around so why would someone go through all the trouble just to throw it in a public trash can or whatever. Maybe an experiment.
Also with all the rides killing and hurting people these days Disney for sure doesnt need bad PR.

guys, calm down. This was a little itty bitty bomb that may or may not have had the destructive power of blowing the top off a garbage can. This is 4th of July Weekend and kids are out of school with little to do except play with fireworks.

Maybe you didn't know this but they sell 1/4 sticks of dynomite as a fire cracker... its called a blockbuster and cherry bombs, and is fairly common.

Based on what we know, my money is on some kid doing this with a fire cracker.

Nothing to see here.

Originally posted by Where2Hide2006
guys, calm down. This was a little itty bitty bomb that may or may not have had the destructive power of blowing the top off a garbage can. This is 4th of July Weekend and kids are out of school with little to do except play with fireworks.

Maybe you didn't know this but they sell 1/4 sticks of dynomite as a fire cracker... its called a blockbuster and cherry bombs, and is fairly common.

Based on what we know, my money is on some kid doing this with a fire cracker.

Nothing to see here.

Sorry, but to me, little Johnny sitting at home building pipe bombs is not normal for the 4th of july, and I failed to see the pipe bomb section down at the local fireworks stand here where I live.

Have you ever seen a full stick of dynomite go off, I have and I can assure you that 1/4 of a stick is not being sold to the public. they may say it's 1/4 of a stick, but that's just hype.

Originally posted by Where2Hide2006
guys, calm down. This was a little itty bitty bomb that may or may not have had the destructive power of blowing the top off a garbage can. This is 4th of July Weekend and kids are out of school with little to do except play with fireworks.

Maybe you didn't know this but they sell 1/4 sticks of dynomite as a fire cracker... its called a blockbuster and cherry bombs, and is fairly common.

Based on what we know, my money is on some kid doing this with a fire cracker.

Nothing to see here.

Ok I was under the impression it was a pipe bomb.
So its a firecracker? Where did you see that info?

Originally posted by Where2Hide2006
Maybe you didn't know this but they sell 1/4 sticks of dynomite as a fire cracker... its called a blockbuster and cherry bombs, and is fairly common.

Those type of "firecrackers" are totally illegal in the state of California. Cherry bombs are also illegal in Orange County. Also, the sherriff reported that "end caps" were found, which you would not find anyway on a 1/4 stick of dynamite.
If those things are legal in New Jersey, especially dynamite, in any size or shape, I'm very glad I don't live there.

Disney has an incredible PR department, and it also owns ABC and several other media outlets. If anyone can keep a story under wraps, Disney can.

Disney has been good at keeping negative news out of the headlines. Many people have been severely injured or killed at Disney parks throughout the years. I read once that a person was sick or injured and needed medical attention, but Disney would not let an ambulance reach the person because they were worried about the ambulance ruining the ambience and frightening guests.

Disney parks are environments that are carefully planned and controlled to make people part with their money. The spector of terrorism or violence ruins the artificial environment they create.

I

Originally posted by Ste2652
Terrorism isn't just about killing - causing chaos and inconvenience without death is another way of doing things, since it's still going to hurt in the long term (lost revenue for businesses, increased security meaning money time, money and effort has to be devoted to police and so on).

I also wouldn't rule out a warning, as other posters have suggested, but I think it's more likely to be a device to cause panic/hysteria than death. Can you imagine how many people visit one of the Disney parks each day? Can you imagine the logistics involved in evacuating those people out of the parks and out of Disney property? A lot of Americans who visit use their own cars, which would clog up the roads as they all tried to leave at the same time. In addition you've got tourists from outside the US who rely on taxies and public transportation, which would be overloaded. A nasty consequence for thousands of people.

Yeah. I actually had a friend who was there with his family on 9/11. They shut all the parks down and didn't really even say why, just get out. They didn't find out what happened until they got back to their hotel and watched the TV.

Luckly for him, the rental car company told him he could drive back to NY with the car for no additional fee, since the airports were closed for days afterwards. That was pretty nice of them.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
Is it possible Disney is using its muscle to cover this up? Wouldn't be good for their theme park business, would it?

According to the local news this morning, all Disney is admitting is that a trash can caught on fire. Even the guys on the news show were making remarks about Disney Security doing damage control.

Also Downtown Disney is not like the other Disney parks in the way its laid out, its more like an open-air mall with public access. You only need a ticket to go into specific attractions.

Disney worker arrested

link

A Walt Disney World employee is facing charges Friday after bragging about putting a pipe bomb at Downtown Disney.

another link

Mailboxes across Central Florida occasionally are destroyed by teenagers who build what amount to large firecrackers

"This event is every bit as important as a neighborhood-mailbox bombing," said sheriff's spokesman Capt. Mark Strobridge in discounting any chance that the Disney explosion was a significant threat to public safety.

In my opinion Disney is doing damage control. If police even SUSPECT something might be going on it's all over the news. This is their pet project, keeping us all afraid of the "Arab Menace" secretly lurking in every corner and taxi cab in your neighborhood.

Now, I'm no explosives expert but a pipe bomb is probably the easiest explosive to build and requires nothing more than you would find in a typical home workshop. Blockbusters and Cherry Bombs may be illegal but it doesn't take long to drive over state lines and buy some. All fireworks are illegal in New York City but people just drive over to Jersey and pick them up.

However, I've never heard of a pipe bomb with a remote detonator, they're usually ignited with a fuse stuck through a hole in the end caps. That means that some one would have to light it, drop it, and run. Does that mean we'd have him on camera? I know Disney has better surveillance than most casinos.

Also, it couldn't have been terribly malicious if they didn't find loads of shrapnel. You use a pipe bomb because you can fill it with BBs, bolts, pennies, anything really.

I don't think it's possible to stop news once it gets on the net. This is one example of a medium getting the word out no matter who wants to keep it under wraps.

Personally I believe the WWW will be the catalyst to the end of things but in the mean time it does serve many good purposes.